Excavation

As a general rule, one figure (representing 10 troops) can dig a trench 10’ deep by 20’ wide and 300’ long in 30 days, assuming normal soil. This will include a rampart of about 8’ height, since the earth has to go somewhere. Extremely wet, swampy soil or heavy clay will double this time. If the workers are supervised by gnomes or dwarves (races known for their prodigious skill at excavation), the total time will be decreased by 25%.

The above figures are based on human, half-orc, or half-elven troops. For other troop types, multiply the amount of time taken by the following factors:

Elf	1.1
Dwarf	0.9
Halfling	0.85
Gnome	0.9
Orc	0.9
Goblin	1.0
Kobold	1.2
Gnoll	0.95
Bugbear	0.85

Thus, one figure representing dwarf troops will dig a trench 10’ deep by 20’ wide and 300’ long in 27 days, while an equal number of kobolds would take 36 days to dig the same ditch. (Note that the trench could take other dimensions, as long as the total volume of earth moved-- 60,000 cubic feet--remained the same. Thus, the trench could be 20’ deep by 30’ wide and only 100’ long with a rampart 24’ high.)

For troop types not listed above, use this rule of thumb based on size:

Size S	1.2
Size M	1.0
Size L	0.8
Larger than L	0.6

Theoretically, any infantry unit or units can dig trenches. In practice, however, the troops involved can wear no armor (heavy digging isn’t possible while wearing chain mail). Thus, while a heavy infantry unit might be assigned to digging trenches, while they’re actually digging their AR drops to 9 (representing no armor). These troops can stop digging at any time and re-armor themselves; however, donning armor takes one complete turn. During this turn, they retain an AR of 9 and are unable to attack (either in melee combat or with missile weapons). If they opt not to don their armor, of course, they can attack with their normal AD; their AR remains 9.

Race of Miner	Earth	Soft Stone	Hard Stone
Gnoll, halfling, or human	150	100	50
Gnome or kobold	160	120	60
Goblin or orc	170	130	60
Dwarf or hobgoblin	180	140	70
Ogre	300	200	100
Hill giant	500	300	150
Fire or frost giant	600	400	200
Stone giant	1,000	700	350